In the middle of this, however, Pokken also caters to casual fighting game fans by allowing them to earn money and unlock new cosmetic items as they go along. It’s not until you hit the third rank that things really start to ramp up, and players are forced to think more technically about their Pokemon’s strengths and weaknesses, and how to make use of Pokken’s innovative phase shift mechanic to turn things in their favor. Packed in with the same lengthy offline story mode that was present in the Wii U release, Pokken eases new players into the action with a gentle learning curve for the first two league ranks. After slogging through a grueling story campaign in this year’s Tekken 7 and a deceptively tough ARMS tournament mode, returning to Pokken felt like a breath of fresh air.

I like to think of Pokken Tournament DX as a fighting game that’s meant for the casual player. While Pokken Tournament DX doesn’t necessarily add on a whole lot of new content to the game, the Switch version does bring enough changes and improvements that will potentially attract newcomers. Despite having released over a year ago on the Wii U (and in arcades even before that), Pokken still stands tall as a deep Tekken-style fighting game with complex move sets and combos to learn, and other new innovations that help to shake things up. If you’ve ever dreamed of diving headfirst into a frantic Pokemon battle with complete control over your chosen pocket monster, Pokken Tournament DX is a literal dream come true.

Pokken tournament